Economic and Investment News Bits Boeing Company (BA) is working with South African Airways (SAA) as part of a group of companies that started a project to turn a nicotine-free tobacco variety called Solaris into a clean fuel. Testing could begin as soon as 2015. In addition to the environmental advantages, the project is also…
Economic and Investment News Bits A child born in 2014 would attend college between the years of 2032 and 2036. The cost of attending an average private 4-year college, if price increases experienced over the last 30 years continued into the future, will total $458,098 or $121,274 per year. Public college education, using historical price increases…
December 2014 Financial Markets Summary The most important global macro trend is the recent decline in the price of oil, from $113 per barrel to today’s $66 per barrel. While Americans have seen a large drop in the price of gasoline, by far the biggest impact is on global economies. The U.S. has benefitted from…
Economic and Investment News Bits Apple Inc., already the world’s largest company, hit a new record value last week at $700 billion. Setting the new record put the iPhone maker’s valuation at more than 1.7 times that of the second largest company in the world, Exxon Mobil Corp. (Source: Bloomberg) “Solar power will prove to…
Economic and Investment News Bits “Last Thanksgiving, the 10-year treasury bond was 2.71%, going to 3.03% at year end. Now the 10-year bond is at 2.32%, and it is likely to end the year below 2.40%. These low interest rates are very supportive to a further rise in stock prices,” (Source: Jeremy Siegel, Wharton School).…
Economic and Investment News Bits William Henry Harrison was president, the nation’s population had reached 17 million, and Ohio was one of four states with a population of more than 1 million when central Ohio’s’ oldest active business opened in 1840. Wittich’s Quality Chocolates & Nuts is still in business on High Street in Circleville.…
Economic and Investment News Bits “We know that there is no country in the world that has meaningfully reduced poverty and spurred significant and sustainable levels of economic growth by relying on aid. History has shown us that by encouraging corruption, creating dependency, fueling inflation, creating debt burdens and disenfranchising Africans (to name a few),…
Economic and Investment News Bits “I think QE1 was necessary, but with QE2 the benefits were starting to get questionable, and eventually we got to the point where the costs of QE were going up, and the benefits were going down. One of the negative effects of the later rounds of QE was on confidence.…
November 2014 Financial Markets Summary We receive literally hundreds of emails every week, often more than 100 every day, that are investment related. They come from sources to which we subscribe, from management companies with whom we do business, from companies that send out regular economic outlooks, and many others from unsolicited sources whose viewpoints…
Economic and Investment News Bits A new internet vulnerability called POODLE potentially allows access to information that is being sent to a website. This information can then be used to exploit systems or sites with which users interact. In general this vulnerability (using SSL3.0) affects only old versions of internet browsers, like Internet Explorer 6. …
Economic and Investment News Bits Commenting on the current market correction, economist John Mauldin notes “You might have a plan to buy stocks or become more aggressive when the index gets below a certain level, but when the market gets to that point, 1) you may not have the cash, and 2) you might be…
We highlighted the recent market volatility, historically market reactions to mid-term election years, and the impact of a rise in the US Dollar. Please click the link below to see the slides and hear our thoughts. 3rd Quarter 2014 Investment Webcast Please remember that past performance may not be indicative of future results. Different types of…
Economic and Investment News Bits The markets had a tough time last week, with the S&P 500 closing Friday at 1,906, down 5% from its peak last month. It makes the following observation from Dudack Research very timely. “The S&P 500 has advanced 57% in 27.6 months since the June 2012 low and has not…
Economic and Investment News Bits PDS Planning’s Quarterly Investment Webcast is scheduled for Wednesday, October 15 at 12 noon. Given the many financial and geopolitical items in the news, this review of the markets and outlook for the rest of the year should be timely and educational. We hope readers of The Weekly will put…
October 2014 Financial Markets Summary It is very easy to allow our life biases to influence decision making. Everyone has biases. We make judgments about people, opportunities, Washington policies, and investing just to name a few. It is impossible to be unbiased in most decision making. This especially holds true for investing. Biases can have…
